Android Earthquake Alerts in Venezuela: What the Evidence Shows

Android earthquake alerts in Venezuela: what the evidence shows Last Wednesday, two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela in quick succession a 7.2 followed seconds later by a 7.5 and many Venezuelans say their Android phones buzzed with warnings before the ground moved. That claim is the center of this article. Not because it proves lives were saved, but because it raises a pointed question: did a consumer smartphone feature just serve as de facto early-warning infrastructure in a country that has none of the conventional kind? The short answer is: possibly. The distinction between "possibly" and "confirmed" matters more than it might seem. The 7.5-magnitude event is the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900, according to USGS data reported by BBC. Both quakes struck close to the surface, amplifying the destruction; the confirmed death toll had risen to nearly 600 as of Vanguard's reporting last Thursday, up from at least 235 in BBC's initial coverage. The quakes